As our winter preparation projects wind down and we move into winter, you are likely to see more food-oriented posts on the Off the Grid blog. Here is what we had for dinner last night:

This is a Pork Chile Verde (Green Chile Stew) recipe that you can find on the web site.

It is pretty easy to make with minimal ingredients. You just need about 4-5 hours to let it cook. Since it cooks at a low temperature, we decided to cook it in the oven of our wood burning stove.

The "old fashioned" wood burning stove.

The stove actually has a large oven. We've done a 13 pound turkey in there before!

Of course, keeping the oven at 225° means adding a stick of wood now and then. And, eventually, the cabin gets quite warm. We had the front door open by the time the stew was done.

I hope you share my fascination with cloud formations because otherwise this will be boring for you!

First photo was taken this morning on our way in to town to pick up the Ranger with its winter tracks. I love the con trail that looks like a zipper, and well, I think the clouds are pretty awesome too. I did not have my camera so I had to resort to using the camera on the iPad instead. No tweaking was done, these are straight off the iPad.

This was on the way home. We are almost home in this photo and the clouds were centered over our property.

The West never disappoints.

Today, we completed another winter prep project--the Ranger now has tracks!

Ranger with her Camoplast tracks, ready for snow. Parked next to 4 cords of wood.

A slightly different viewpoint.

So, as you can see, we have lots of wood. That is about 4 cords in the photo and we've got well over two cords in the woodshed. All we really have left for winter prep is a provisioning trip to Sam's Club and the butcher.

It was actually quite an ordeal. The Polaris dealer in Laramie offered to loan me a trailer which will carry the Ranger. So, on Tuesday, we drove into town, got the trailer, drove back home, loaded the Ranger on the trailer (after using the winch to move the T@B into her winter resting place), drove back into town, dropped off the Ranger and the trailer, did some shopping then came home. It took all day long!

Then, today, we reversed those logistics. (We really need a trailer.)

Bringing the Ranger home (we still need a name).

The good news is that now they are mounted and adjusted, I should be able to swap between tires and tracks on my own. Oh, I'll need to buy lots and lots of new tools, of course. But, I can be more self-sufficient.

Here are a couple of photos of the T@B move. Normally, on pavement, Lynne and I can move the T@B with some pushing and pulling. But, on the dirt driveway, it was just too heavy. So, we used the winch on the Ranger to pull the T@B toward her winter parking place, we then used manual labor to turn her and get her lined up. Then, the Expedition backed her into place.

The winch on the Ranger.

Connected to the tongue of the T@B.

The winter parking spot, sheltered from the wind. We'll put the cover back on soon.

"Girl your eyes have a mist from the smoke of a distant fire."

~taken from the song "Smoke From a Distant Fire.

I promised I would share my "sage smoke" experience with you but how can I tell you about something that I can't really completely remember? I think the quote above would be just about perfect if you substituted "distant" for "sage."

It all started after our anniversary campfire dinner, when Rick tossed a huge branch of sage onto the fire. The smoke smarted in my eyes and I remember saying something to Rick like "that smells really weird" or that the smoke was bothering my breathing. Next thing I knew I was on the ground rolling around laughing with the dogs all around me and Rick trying to help me up. I was giggling uncontrollably and according to him, "uncooperative." He assumed, I think, that I'd had too much to drink. Had I? This did happen after our whiskey nightcap and a bottle of wine. He says he left me there after many attempts to get me on my feet that failed. I don't remember. 

I sort of remember getting in the house, but I honestly can't say I remember how. The rest of the night is a blur. I remember feeling woozy and unbalanced and not being able to walk right. But not like I had too much to drink. I barely remember getting undressed and into my robe and climbing into bed. I guess Rick did up the dishes, but I don't remember. I just know they were all washed, dried and put away when I woke up the next morning.

I slept like a baby. When I woke up I felt fine with no after effects, not a one. If I had too much to drink the room would have been spinning and more than likely I would have been sick. At least a banging headache and nausea in the morning, right? Nope. Nada. Trust me, I've had too much to drink a few times (ahem) in the past and this was nothing like that.

The next morning I did find my discarded leggings in a black puddle of spandex with my shoes under the stool that sits by the Hoosier. I don't remember undressing partly in the hallway. 

So, my question is this: can a person get high by inhaling sage smoke for a campfire? I have never been high in my life on anything other than alcohol so I can't say. Part of me wants to reinact the whole thing to see if it happens again, but I have to say I did not really like the feeling at all. That night is like a big black hole in my memory. 

By the way, it did not affect Rick at all.

What can I say? The whole thing is a blur.

Thoughts?

(Oh by the way, I just realized some of you might think I am talking about the common sage that you use in seasoning. I am talking about sagebrush which grows rampant up here. Wild sagebrush.)

Destin continues to grow ... and grow! When we weighed him a week and a half ago he weighed in at 75 lbs. and I think he's had a growth spurt since then. He's taller than Hailey now, his head and bone are both bigger than hers. He still has a way to go to catch up with behemoth Bella, but heck, he's only 7 months old!

He continues to bring us joy each and every day with either his cuteness or mischief-making. He's getting better about coming in after he's been outside, but we are still working on that. He tends to get the zoomies and then he wants us to catch him. Not a fun game when the goal is to get him in the house. We were making great progress until the snow came into his life. Oh, what fun is that white stuff! Sigh. Otherwise, he's good as gold. Smart smart smart. Maybe too smart. He is well muscled from all the good exercise he gets with uneven ground, logs to jump over, space to run. All the world is his yard.

Trying to get him to hold still for his montly photos at Serenity Point are getting tougher and tougher. Especially those lap photos! At one year I think I will make a collage of all those pics taken month by month to show his growth. Should be interesting!

Plus, with my butt plunked down on this snow covered bench was no picnic, let me tell you.

Who knows what the landscape will look like for month 8!

Holding still was never his strong point.